The Mother
by Z6don of the 327th
Summary: A boy named Zak finds a journal chronicling the last days of a man his mother knew in pre apocalyptic Japan. R
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The finding

The great ominous ruin stood out amongst the landscape. A tribute to the horrors this land had seen. It is here a certain boy obtains a peculiar journal, one that has within its pages, the founding of his entire world.

"Zak, why do we have to be here?"A blonde haired girl complained to her male companion.

Normally the sandy haired boy would comfort her, or at least answer her query, but this day was was unlike any other, he could feel it in the air. He plunged on, determined to make his way into the destroyed building.

After climbing an insanely long flight of stairs he arrived at the front of the building...the sign painted above read " Hinata Inn" obviously all of its tenants were dead and gone...the perfect chance for exploring. The doors had long since been either torn or rotted away so he walked right in.

"I really don't think we should be here Zak...it's really scary..." Once again the girl pleaded with him to not follow through with his idea,

The boy turned about with a glare "Then go back to your mom Rachel." The coldness in his tone suggested complete sincerity.

The girl remained silent, though still following her companion, as she did not know the way home. Bones lay scattered amongst the floor in random piles, all seemed to be leading upstairs. The two made they're way to a room labeled "Manager". The walls were completely ripped to shreds and destroyed. There, sitting against the wall was one skeleton...alone. Zak walked over until he could touch him without raising a hand.

Beside the skeleton were two items, a necklace and a bound journal, Zak felt an aura of something left behind, something sad and forgotten, it expelled out of the journal. Without ever thinking about it Zak picked up the little bound book and began his way out. Rachel never uttered a word throughout the whole ordeal, she had never seen her friend this way.

The two parted ways upon the arrival of the little girls house, Zak left without ever saying goodbye, his mind focused on his find. Zak entered his home to find completely empty, as was common in his family. He hid the book within one of planks in his bedroom walls, for later reading. Then, he waited for his mother and father.

Zak could usually tell when his father got back from his labor, he usually reeked of the stuff he called "gods water" and was noisy and belligerent. It was at this point Zak normally got boxed in the ear because he was a "mistake" and a multitude of other things his father called him. His mother was treated no better than he was.

Zak's mother was a small brown haired Asian woman, his father married her soon after he arrived in Japan to help with reconstruction. Zak always loved her cheery disposition, it seemed to balance out his father...most of the time. Her name was...Mutsumi.

This night was the nastiest Zak had ever seen his father, in addition to the usual rowdiness he had struck his mother several times. The whole while Zak shook in his bed, too afraid to do anything but curl up and pray for it to be over. He wished for his family to be happy again, like they used to be. Just one big Happy family. Zak reach into his wall, pulled out the journal, and opened its pages.

_Authors note: Yes, I am back, and its definitely good to be back, you may be wondering how in the hell this has anything to do with love hina or Negima...all in good time my readers...all in good time._


	2. Chapter 2 The journal readings

Chapter 2 : The journal Readings

June 6th, 1999

It happened again...only this time I think Naru might have broke something. The back of my head hurts extraordinarily worse then all the other times she's hit me there.

Okay, I'm back, I decided not to go to the doctor. This always happens anyway so its not that big of a deal to begin with. Tomorrow I'm going to surprise her with a nice dinner, I hope she will forgive me...

June 11th, 1999

Last night was a complete success! I still cant believe what happened...here, I'll go some detail.

It was a perfect Sunday morning when I woke, my head still felt a tingle from the punch but that was soon remedied with a hot shower, the whole morning was setup perfectly for my question. The seas were calm, nothing bad had happened at all, no breast touching, no accidental peeking, nothing. Next came the difficult part, the question. The best way to describe Naru is a bombshell both physically and emotionally. So I approached with extreme caution and stammered out my best...and she said yes! Not only that but we even setup the date for the tenth.

It was the most exciting and nerve-wracking four days of my life. Too many things could possibly go wrong...but none of them happened. For the night of the date she wore a slim strapless red dress and pumps.

The whole night was in comparison to only the best of my dreams, I never stuttered, I managed not to stare, it was like I could not mess this up for the world. The dinner was also exceptional, I had a steak, bloody rare, a bit odd since I like mine medium-well but delicious nonetheless.

But, as with all things, it had to end and the night threatened to break dawn as we made the steps to Hinata inn. The last five minutes were perhaps the best of my life. She kissed, Sadly enough this is were my luck came to an abrupt halt, as I had just bitten her lip. Thankfully it did not ruin the whole night, just the mood.

The strangest thing happened however, when the blood started to flow from her cut a bit got into my mouth...and it tasted amazing. I don't know if maybe it was due to the ecstasy I was in or what but...odd.

June 13th, 1999

I think something might be wrong. I seem to crave raw meat, but as I chew it begins to disgust me with each bite. It could be some phase I guess. On a lighter note, I think Naru's been lightening up a little bit finally. First off she didn't hit after my accident with her lip she didn't make snide comment at the all day yesterday or today and she even gave me a kiss goodnight! I think karma is finally taking a turn for the better for me.

June 14th, 1999

There are days of peace, of sorrow, of happiness, of anger. Some are more, some are less, some grasp two, or reach all four. But they never leave, always following. For me there is only one...sorrow.

June 15th, 1999

Why? That is my question. What exactly have I done? Even Kitsune hurts me, the only person I can even be near is Shinobu. Its a little odd though...no matter what happens, I always forgive them. Its a vicious cycle, and I hate it all, this of mine doesn't count for anything now does it? The only positive in my life was the inheritance of this godforsaken hotel, and even this has manged to screw me over. The four days are a lie, there is only misery for this soul.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Friend

Zak managed to shove the journal back into its crevice before his parents came to tuck him into his bed. The first couple of pages had given him a raw sense of adventure, the dates clearly pointed out that this book had been written before the Great Happening. Pieces of things such as this were extremely rare here in Japan, a fierce sense of pride erupted throughout the frail boys body, anything he could do to keep together his mothers heritage was his goal. It was all his mother had left...besides himself and Dad.

He often wondered why they had left the southern beaches for this village near an old desolate city long abandoned by its teeming inhabitants. Story's were always told of the times before everything went to hell but nobody ever told him what had happened before the Great Happening. Every night Zak would lie in bed and think about these questions, mulling them over in his head, he had learned to stop asking long ago. He rolled over in his sheets...eyes closed in a blissful sleep.

Zak woke up to a freezing house the next morning. The air had a chill feel to it, as the fire had not been stoked all night. Zak stumbled into the main room with a glazed look in his eyes. Fall was definitely making its appearance within the small village. Zak's father was sitting at the table, munching on the remainder of his breakfast. Zak and his Dad never got along since before Zak could remember. Zak secretly felt it was because he didn't look anything like his father at all. Zak was small, almost completely blind without glasses, and could hardly go anywhere without tripping or otherwise blundering about causing his unruly mess of dark brown hair to flop about.

So his father largely ignored him. As soon as Zak realized his father stare, he booked it out of there, running as fast as he could to...nowhere in particular.

'I'm a failure, aren't I?' He mused this over as he came to a halt beneath a cherry blossom tree. 'Even my own Dad can't stand me' His back slid down the tree till he came to halt, leaning against the bark for support.

"Hi Zak!" Out beyond the their own yard was his neighbor, Rachel. "So are ya done bein' all weird today?" She put her hands on her hips "come on, lets go do something!"

Even though they were both fourteen and had known each other since they were 6 Zak still couldn't stand her sometimes. Especially now, She seemed to have something that bothered Zak...but not in a bad way, Zak let it go, he just thought it was another strange thing about girls he just couldn't figure out. Like how every once in a while she got extremely annoyed with him for nothing.

Zak lifted his head at his new idea "Hey, lets go back to that hotel!" At the mention of the hotel Rachel looked down and started shifting her feet.

"No, I really don't like it there Zak, can't we do something else, please?" Her pleading look oddly made him feel sympathy for what was obviously a ruse.

In the end he finally gave up "OK, OK we won't go, but I do want to go get something from my house first." Zak dashed back into his house, after making sure nobody was around he snatched the journal from its place and returned to the tree.

"Is that the nasty old book by that skeleton you picked up?" Rachel looked at the book with a certain distaste towards it. "whats in it anyways?"

Zak plopped down beside the tree and looked up at his friend, " I think it was the guys journal before he...you know...died."

Rachel's eyes widened with fright, "That's his personal property, what if he came back and decided to haunt you!"

Zak looked down at the small journal in his hands, "I'm pretty sure if he took all the time to write this stuff down he would want someone to read it, I mean what if there's some really important stuff in here...we could finally learn about the Great Happening!" The fright drained and gave way into excitement as Rachel listened to Zak, she immediately sat down next to him to read exactly what the young man had written all those years ago.

_AN: I know I know, the chapters here are exceedingly short, but fear not devoted reader, this is only the beginning. Keitaro and Co. will make their appearance soon enough, trust me._


	4. Chapter 3 The Journal Readings

Chapter 3

The Journal Readings

June 17th 1999

I've had a revelation. I believe in my purpose, this is _my _story. And here is the opening chapter of my life.

It happened last night. It was lights out, probably 11:30 at the latest, I was on my way to Shinobu's room to say goodnight. She was on the homework I explained to here the previous day. I watched her diligently working so late into the night. Pride welled up within me as I realized I wasn't completely a loser in this damnable world.

An urge seized hold of me at this point, a deep dark throbbing sensation flowed through to the back of my head. Her neck was a tan color, darkened from all the days doing laundry, the skin was taut with youth.

I used all the willpower under my control to not succumb, but I admit...I failed. As my teeth clenched into the back of her neck she turned and began to scream. To avoid being caught in such a situation I did the only thing I could have done, I kissed her. I got an instant reaction, she fell apart completely, telling me everything she'd ever thought about me, while it was pleasant and quite unexpected, it was not what I wanted.

I lied to this poor girl, I told I loved her more than anything, about her beauty, about everything under the sky and she bought it. This power was freeing, it was..._invigorating_, I found a new Keitaro, on that I preferred.

June 20th 1999

It has been done, I feel overjoyed at the sensations I have felt the past few days. Let me tell my story.

The morning of the 18th was an awkward one to say the least, Shinobu was flushed red the entire time and burned the breakfast meal. Not only that but Naru saw the mark on the back of her neck, so I caught hell for that.

Otherwise it was a picture perfect day, well at least until I spoke with Shinobu that evening. She had completely fallen for my ruse that happened entirely by accident. She is such a weak-minded person. But we did indeed talk throughout the night, as it turns out, she is indeed a bright person but isn't equipped with a good background to draw from...who am I kidding? Nobody in this forsaken dorm is. I suppose that is the reason she moved here.

She told me that she's had a crush on me since I arrived here...Apparently she's still in shock from what happened the night before. I then told her that I had a "surprise" waiting for her the following night, an all day and night study session with yours truly, I had arranged it at a local hotel so nobody would bother us. And she ate every single word of it up, I couldn't believe it, she completely trusted me, I suppose my past will indeed prove useful after all.

The following morning was uneventful, I asked Shinobu to keep my gift a secret lest the other residents get jealous (like that would ever happen) so the day virtually sailed on by quite smoothly.

That night Shinobu and I got to the hotel...it was a real dump. The room I had chose was relatively clean, I had been fixing it up all that morning. What Shinobu thought was that we were going to study and that maybe, just maybe something would happen. Sadly enough...her dreams were dashed to pieces.

As soon as she sat down to get comfortable at the kotetsu I grabbed a fistful of her hair and slammed her face on the edge, once, twice, three times, the blood flowed freely from her nose and mouth. The fluid ran so thick she began to choke.

The feeling was euphoric, all my life, the only thing I could expect was disappointment, I had taken destiny into my own hands.

As I stood there, experiencing my new-found self, Shinobu's gasping and weeping started to fade. She had crawled to the front door? This was no good, this time I moved with a purpose, at that point she had already opened up the entry way, I grabbed her and dragged her back in. I did not speak to her at all for the rest of the following process. Even as I recall it now it makes my mouth water.

She struggled up until the very end, it was interesting, the human spirit is quite resilient to many things, including death.

I did not hurt her anymore than was required, she had already paid for the pain she had caused me. I drew out the carving knife I had brought along and plunged it into her chest, she lasted only a few seconds afterwords. The carving knife was not only for the purpose of a clean kill. I now know that carving meat is a long laborious process. I was up until 5 A.M. It took another three hours to entirely scour the place of blood and other fluids and yet another hour to haul my spoils to the dorm freezer. All the identifiables ( skin, hair, etc.) went straight into the pond.

After all of this I still had to cover up what I had done. It was surprisingly easy, as soon as Naru and Motoko questioned me, I simply told them I was helping Haitani and Shirai move and that Shinobu had a family emergency. I ended up stuttering through most of it but I got the job done, they believed me. It is quite shocking how naïve these girls actually are.

June 22nd 1999

I am a sick individual. What the hell was I thinking? I've been wasting this delicious meat I worked so hard for. The past few days I have been sharing my bounty with the others, of course, they don't know what it is, but it pains me to see them casually eating the most delicate parts of Shinobu's anatomy. What dishonor.

June 25th 1999

I am starting to run low...i need to find another way to obtain more, lets see...

The only readily available option I have is Su. Not only is she overly trusting, it would be an easy task to conceal her death.

Wow...look at me, already in the stages of planning... It truly is different than the past. No longer do the chains of mercy and forgiveness bind me to perpetual unhappiness, there are only the weak and the dead.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Zak finished the journal entry and snapped the tattered pages shut…it was…painful, horrifying to read this, even if it wasn't true…but something gave him an eerie feeling that there was no reason to write such ludicrous tales.

"Hey!" Rachel exclaimed, "I wasn't finished with that part yet!" she reached over for the journal, fingers outstretched. Zak handed it to her but didn't let go.

"But first, you have to swear that you won't tell anybody else about this ok?" Zak's voice grew stern, a tone he rarely, if ever, used. Rachel nodded her consent and put her finger to her lips, the universal sign for silence. She took the little book and returned to her place, propping her back against the tree.

As she began her foray, Zak lay down upon the ground, wondering about what he had read. 'Well, it could be important, we should bring it to the elders' he reasoned

'yes but what's the point, they already know of the great happening, yet they refuse to mention it anymore than that…this may be our only chance we can figure out what the hell happened!'

His more cautious side was beginning to take a more defensive position in the argument 'well, maybe there's a reason they don't tell us, you see how nervous and unsettled they get when we mention it.'

'Then all the more reason too!' the other voice had the upper hand, a complete death-grip on the other 'think of what we can learn, of the exclusive insight to an event we ourselves no naught about, not too mention a preservation of our history!'

As the argument concluded he found himself gazing at Rachel as she read to the page he had bookmarked. He had held these…feelings for her, he had no idea when it began but it simply just was. Sure, there where other children in the village, but she was the only one who played with him. He had been socially awkward since he could remember, even before they moved from that nice beach place eight years ago…and he could barely remember that. She began twisting her hair between her fingers, something she did when she was thinking…her hair…it was not so much blonde, as it was grey, not a nasty light old person grey, but smooth as silk, darker, sleek, even now she could be considered beautiful.

'Wow…she even grown decent sized breasts…!' Zak blushed at this thought, 'W-what the hell am I thinking…Rachel is just a friend, a friend!' … 'Right?'

Before Zak could continue his thoughts any farther Rachel looked up, a very confused look on her face.

"Who would ever write such disturbing things?" she asked Zak, "I really hope this didn't actually happen…"

"I know what you mean Rachel, this guy was messed up, but its interesting…isn't it?" Zak reached out for the journal, looking Rachel in the eye.

"I don't really know at this point, I mean, it seems like he just wants to kill everyone and…eat them, there's no mentioning of the great happening at all…" As Rachel hands the journal to Zak their fingers touch, at this Zak begins to blush furiously, a bright red spreading across his cheeks. "H-hey, what are you blushing for…its not because we just touched hands did we?" Rachel tilts her head, looking into Zaks dark brown eyes, Zak begins to blush deeper, and looks away. "It is isn't it!" Zak looks down, giving something that appears to be a nod "I knew it!"

"You did?" Zak looks up and stares directly into her eyes, a forlorn look upon his face.

"W-well yea, kinda, us women have to have these kinds of intuitions about men, so you don't take advantage of us!" As she said this she leapt on top of Zak, pinning him to the ground. The old journal lay forgotten as the two looked into the others eyes, merely inches apart. She closed her eyes and sighed "Just…take things slow with me ok?" she kissed his cheek "because…I like you too, Zak." Upon saying this she got back up just as quickly as she pinned him, and ran off to her home, leaving a dazed Zak with himself.

'What the hell…does she mean by take it slow? Zak sat up, and began to dust himself off…the feeling of the kiss still lingered on his cheek…he reached up and felt it.

"HEY, stop screwing around with your little girlfriend and get in here and fix the coals damnit"

"Yes dad!" he glanced about, it was already dusk, how could have so much time have passed? He tucked the journal into his pants before heading in, no way would his dad get a hold of this. "Where's mom?"

"She's out getting things for tonight's dinner, so start working on that fire already, ill be damned if my dinners late because someone cant get it going." As usual, his father barked at him for being essentially useless.

The rest of the night passed by fairly quickly, just a peaceful, quiet night, even dad didn't get boisterous and loud as he usually did, which shocked both him and his mother. As it all wound down, and he said his final goodnights to his parents, Zak carefully brought out the journal, flipped to his page, and resumed his adventure by the soft glow of the fire.

_Author's note: That's right ladies and germs, I'm back! And I'm locked and cocked and ready to rock. Terribly sorry about the delay, however, I will persevere and continue on with this fic! Even if it should destroy me! Just kidding…but maybe I'm not, who the fuck knows. Till next time you rotten bastards._


	6. Chapter 4 : The journal readings

Chapter 4 : the journal readings

June 27th 1999

I have finally devised my next plan of action and have implemented its first stage.

The entirety of this blueprint is setup into three separate and unique stages. First off is the "befriendment" stage, at this point in time all I do is exactly whats stated in the name, befriend them. But with the Hinata girls…that is its own brand of rocket science, especially for a guy like me…thus why I have chosen Su.

The next phase is simple but is applicable, and essential in some form or another…aptly named the "lure" is, once again, exactly that, the using of an item any particular potential victim highly covets. In this scenario perhaps the only thing truly useful would be bananas. Now its going to have to be enough bananas to make Su fall asleep…which is a lot of goddamn bananas.

The third and final phase is called…for lack of a better term, "the End" here is where my victim will find my true self, which will end in their untimely demise, of course. I like to think of it as payment for the pain they have caused me. Like wise, this is also the most dangerous phase, and failure is not an option, lest I wish to die at their hands.

Now to divulge into the implementation of my analysis. On paper Su should be just as easy as Shinobu, except for her huge amounts of energy, along with her overly violent tendencies….on second thought…this might be tougher than I thought. Once again my past has come in handy, considering she already trusts me due to our past experiences together.

She too will find out who I am.

June 29th 1999

She's smart.

I should have taken this into account as well…I don't know why the hell I didn't…she is definitely getting suspicious, she keeps asking questions about Shinobu, always in that playful manner of hers, but now there is a tinge of seriousness to her voice. She also nags about why I've been spending so much time with her as of late.

I really hope this doesn't turn into another Shinobu situation.

I have to act quickly, but patiently, slow is smooth, smooth is fast. I may have to bypass phase two altogether…and it might get messy. Failure….there is no such thing as failure now…I will write next, when my mission has been completed.

July 1st 1999

The task was not easy, but it has been done. I must eradicate the old Keitaro, his forgetfulness nearly had me killed.

Su fought with the strength of ten men.

Yesterday was over cast and cloudy, a dreary depressing day. Su asked me to play with her, so of course, I said yes. The game decided on was hide and seek, almost perfect for my objective. At first I simply played a few rounds with her, to get her comfortable until about an hour into the game, then I struck.

I hid in one of the secret passage ways honeycombing the inn and waited, and waited, and waited, I had to have been waiting in the vicinity of twenty minutes until at long last she came scrambling in "wow, you really are great at hiding Keitaro" and I quote the last words to expel from her throat.

I strangled her…a beautiful sight to behold. As soon as the above sentence was uttered my hands shot out, directly for her neck, her skin was soft as well, I admit, the old Keitaro was screaming in the back of my head, the coward. As I compressed my fingers to cut off her access to oxygen, she fought as if possessed. The bruises I received look terrible, much worse then Naru's love taps.

At one point she almost broke free, and thusly I would have been done for, if not for pure willpower I would not be writing this. Her blows became weak and farther apart as I continued to apply pressure, soon she was no longer among the living.

I laid her out upon the floor so that I could get my "tools". I found the process to be slightly easier as I put forth the effort to separate skin from bone. The experience was invaluable, this time I packaged the cuts separately and organized them in the freezer.

After I had finished I resumed the studies I had left off a few days before. I have to keep up my guise somehow right?

Speaking of which…I will write more later, I'm supposed to study tonight with Naru tonight.

July 2nd 1999

Every day is a new day to me. For instance, last night while studying with Naru I began correcting her! She is tops in the nation…so that's a huge deal for me, at first she thought it was just luck but after a while it became consistent. I think she finally views me as an equal, and a guy. There id definitely some changes going on here in the way my body functions, and I see no negatives.

On the other hand, I had to deal with Su's disappearance in the form of Motoko. I don't think she completely believed that she left for her home country, those two had always been close, this will only make things harder in the end I suppose. Goodnight.

July 3rd 1999

I have all these cravings now. Every once in a while I get these painful aches until I begin moving towards the freezer. The tissue I consume is…well…indescribable, this is the most alive I have ever felt…

But something is missing

_Authors note: Two updates in two days? Impossible! But no dear reader, I am absolutely determined to get to a much farther point than this in the story. Then quit there…BAHAHAHA, I know, im evil, how else could I think of this? Fear not, the worst is yet to come…till next time dear reader, this is z6don signing off._


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